Rise from the Ashes
by Tavar
Summary: In the year 2077 the world was set on fire. America, Europe, China all gone. Now it is the year 2281. In the West coast, the conflict with the NCR and Caesar's Legion is slowly reaching it's climax. As this happens a new faction emerges. The old world is gone, now a nation from the Old world rises once again, hopefully for the better.
1. Foreward

**Foreward**

 **Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership over anything in the Fallout Franchise. Credit goes to Interplay, Black Isle, Bethesda and Obsidian for making it.**

Now I know I said that I won't be publishing anything for _Records of the Eighth Kingdom_ anytime soon, that is true. But I did not say I wouldn't publish anything I already wrote for a different work. _Fallout 2_ was one of the first PC games i got my hands on, hell I still have the old CD. New Vegas was and still is one of my favorite Fallout games 4 was okay but I still find myself going back to New Vegas occasionally. Some of this I wrote way before I even came up with Records. Part of the Reason i'm posting this is because Fallout related content is stuck in my head at the moment and i'm hoping that polishing stuff I already wrote will get it out of my head.

I feel like I should warn you before start reading this that if you're expecting overtly dark or gritty story I'm going have to disappoint you and I hope you can find another author who will provide such a narrative. Now don't get me wrong this won't be a story with sunshine and rainbows (at least I hope it doesn't go that way). To a degree this story is more about a new (pre-war) faction entering the Wasteland and begin the process of rebuilding. What I want to write is a faction that not necessarily the hero in shining armor but at the same time not the devil in disguise. I'll be the first to tell you that I'm not the greatest writer, hell I hope that over time I'll get better at it. And if none that dissuaded you I hope you can enjoy it.

First entry will be background history, followed by a few character bios, followed by snippets of Pre-war life, and then we'll get to the actual story/ the stuff I already wrote for it.

The plan is to start in New Vegas but we'll end up in the Commonwealth.

-Tavar


	2. Info Dump

Working title: Rise from the Ashes

 **AN: Wrote this plot bunny a long time ago and decided to polish and publish it.** **Bi** **g time AU at least in terms of Pre-war History, what happens Fallout 4 and New Vegas with minor alterations to Fallout 3**

 **This was somewhat inspired by several incomplete fanfics that I read but did not see being updated anytime soon.**

 **2052:**

Resource Wars begin

Several Anti-war protesters including one Shaun Maxson (Father of Roger, Nora Maxson and adoptive father of Jacob Maxson) are killed, his wife Elizabeth and her children move to Lexington Virginia

Jason Frost 'retires' from DIA field operations , assumes his original identity as Michael Greenwood.

 **2054:**

Project Safehouse begins, Vault-tec begins construction of vaults.

Michael Greenwood elected as a Senator in the Southwest Commonwealth.

 **2055:**

US Government's Phoenix Project begins.

Oil and other fuels are stockpiled in small amounts to be stored in the future vault.

Viable Location the Vault is found South of Big Mountain.

Construction of the Underground facility begins.

 **2060:**

Senator Michael Greenwood provides silent support to the project, provides political connections and additional funding.

Construction of the Phoenix Vault is completed.

 **2061:**

Expansion's to vault begin, intent is to build larger storage areas, underground factory complex, warehouses and Hydroponics farm with the purpose of creating a self-sustaining vault.

 **2062:**

One hundred units of Sentry Robots are brought to the vault to be stored.

 **2065:**

Expansion of vault facilities completed, expansion of Cryo Chambers begin.

Mothballed vehicles are sent to "New Phoenix" for storage.

Government alters evacuation plans, Governmental officials assigned to project phoenix

 **2066:**

China Invades Alaska

Senator Michael Greenwood helps one Reid Underwood form Quaere Verum, acting as one of many silent backers. The purpose of Quaere Verum is to expose the Conspiracy.

Project Scientists and Engineers begin construction of Cold Fusion Generators after receiving data from the Power-Armor Project.

 **2067:**

Jacob Maxson drafted into the Military, scouted and recruited into the Army Ranger's.

 **2072:**

All units assigned to the Project are formed into what became known as the Joint Task force or 'JTF'

Cryo Chamber expansion completed.

Cold Fusion Generators completed.

Project Researchers begin working on on alternative Cold Fusion Engine designs

Senator Greenwood ensures that several Garden of Eden Creation Kits were 'acquired' from Vault-Tec

 **2074:**

JTF Ranger Battalions assigned to Project Phoenix sent to Anchorage, Alaska

 **2075:**

After the military success of the Rangers, the rest of the Military units attached to Phoenix Project shipped off to Alaska, Anchorage. (Project Personnel convinced US Military officials provide materials and supplies for the Project)

Quaere Verum destroyed, The Enclave decries them as crackpot conspiracy theorists.

Senator Greenwood and the other silent Quaere Verum backers are able covers their tracks.

 **2076:**

Prototype of Mister Gutsy are completed, a small number of units are sent to the Phoenix Vault.

Mothballed Gauss weapons are shipped to Phoenix Vault.

Controls attached to the Phoenix Vault only assigned government officials can open vault after the sealing.

Family members of Phoenix Military Personnel sent to the Vault.

With the government inspection of the vault came the realization that the Project Phoenix Vault was many times larger than any Vault made by Vault-Tec, practically an underground city.

Several Army units attached to "ensure" the loyalty of the Project Personnel.

During the Anchorage deployment several Military officers assigned to the Phoenix Project are caught in friendly fire 'accidents'.

 **2077:**

January 10th, Alaska has been reclaimed by the United States.

January 15th, Major General Marcus Speirs is assigned head of the Phoenix Project military arm due to the deaths of the other officers.

February 5th, Units assigned to Project sent back home, additional units in form of Marine divisions attached

March 23rd, Speirs begins private investigations into the deaths of his predecessor and several of his peers, resulting in contact with the Silent backers of the Project, made aware of the Conspiracy.

April 9th, with the T-45's being replaced by the newer T-51's, a number of mothballed T-45's are sent to Phoenix Vault

June 15th, Dr Erika Braun and her scientists complete modification's the acquired G.E.C.K's, They will now work as advertised.

July 4th,

Monitoring equipment and transmitters discovered in the Vault during routine inspection, left alone for the time being.

Materials for additional cryo-pods are delivered to the Vault

October 19th Senator Michael Greenwood destroys all data pertaining to Phoenix Project, actions would not be found out until it was too late

October 20th, Senator Greenwood contacts Dr. Erika Braun, she promptly disables all equipment used to monitor the Phoenix Vault

October 22nd, Plans for XVB02 or Vertibird aircraft are sent to the Phoenix Project.

October 23rd, Great War Begins, the Bombs Drop, China targets the West Coast first.

Several Vertibirds that were meant for the project crash outside of the Vault.

Senator Michael Greenwood and several non-enclave affiliated officials reach the Vault

(Conspiracy) Governmental officials assigned to Project Phoenix perish en route to the Vault, In truth Major-General Marcus Speirs had several ranger squadrons eliminate them and their escorts on the advice of Michael Greenwood.

Groups of Civilians manage to reach the Vault, allowed entrance

Officials do not arrive, All assigned soldiers, personnel and their families have entered the Vault.

Vault is sealed and soldiers assigned to Project Phoenix are placed into Cryogenic sleep.

Mr Handy Robots activated to maintain vault with a skeleton crew of technicians rotated out of cryosleep to maintain the facilities of the Vault.

 **2200:**

Irradiated creatures break into the vault, Technicians are able to hold them off but several soldiers including one Sergeant Benjamin Montgomery are thawed out to repel creatures.

Creatures are given the designations "Mole-rat" "Radroach" and "Rad-rat"

Creatures destroyed, Soldiers returned to Cryosleep

 **2078:**

Major-General Marcus Speirs and Dr. Erika Braun Thawed out

Michael Greenwood Thawed out

 **2280:**

Encryption cracked, Entirety of Project Phoenix begins the process of thawing out of Cryosleep

Underground Factory complex is activated, manufacturing of building materials begins

Soldiers and their civilian family members thawed out, occupy underground residence

Due to being the highest ranking Military officer left in the USAF, Military personnel and Senator Michael Greenwood agrees that Marcus Speirs should be promoted to General

 **2281:**

Keeping the others in storage, Two modified G.E.C.K's are used to establish 'New Pheonix' and create arable farmland.

Soldiers of Project Phoenix emerges from the Vault.

What remains of the Civilian government agrees that Martial Law shall be instated until the Area surrounding the Vault and newly established city is secured and any immediate threats are eliminated.

Cold Fusion Generators are made from G.E.C.K's power sources used to provide power to New Phoenix.

Several squads of soldiers sent out to scout the surrounding wasteland, The squad sent towards Las Vegas goes missing, soldiers presumed KIA until further notice.

Two more scouts are sent Northwards towards the Mojave...

* * *

 **Project Phoenix**

 **Governmental/Civilian Leader:** Michael Greenwood

 **Military Leader:** Major-General (General) Marcus Speirs

 **Head of Research:** Dr. Erika Braun

 **Notable Military personnel:** Major James Dornan (Army),Major Aarne Johansson (Army Rangers) Captain Jacob Maxson(Army Rangers), Major Jethro Diamond (Marine Corp), Gunnery Sergeant Benjamin Montgomery (Marine Corp), Major Stephen Hackett (Air force) First Lieutenant Hannah Shepard (Air Force)

 **Notable Science Personnel:** Dr. Thomas Faraday (Physics,) Dr. Carlos Marshall (Engineering, Weapons), Dr. Amanda Lovelace (Biology, Medicine)

 **Military Strength:** 8,000 (discounting Robotic Auxiliaries and support staff)

 **Locations:** New Phoenix(South of New Vegas and Big MT, East of Phoenix)

With tensions rising in the World the US Government had made several contingency plans to survive the possible nuclear war, one of those plans was Project Phoenix. The Project was intended to "ensure the survival of the United States of America". Allowing it to 'rise from the ashes' hence the name Phoenix, While the government was evacuated off planet via the Poseidon Oil rig, at least that was the original plan.

Officially the Project was made for several purposes, including development of technologies needed to survive in the aftermath of a Nuclear War. When Doctor Stanislaus Braun completed Garden of Eden Creation Kit or G.E.C.K, several of these units were 'misplaced' and delivered to Project Phoenix. Further testing made them realize that it may not fully work as intended as several models had differing results when tested, as such researchers devoted time to ensuring that it did work as intended.

As mentioned before the purpose of the Project was to ensure that America Stayed under American control by promoting this objective they garnered far more support than a certain group would have liked, thanks to this support they had been given access to tried and true weapons, weapons that could be used in harsh environments. An example of this would be their standard firearms the M-45 and R91 rifles, and the AER9 and Wattz 2000 laser weaponry. Suits of T-45 and T-51 Power armors were requisitioned and delivered to the project. A few experimental weapons and tech have also been delivered to them as well, examples include several units of the experimental T-60 power armor, and experimental weaponry and cybernetics from Poseidon Energy. Another example would have been the Mister Gutsy's and Assaultrons that were sent to Phoenix Vault alongside the schematics needed to produce more.

The Vault was originally designed to house several Army battalions and scientists. But as the project developed the vault had to be expanded, it needed additional residence space for families of the soldiers and scientists, it needed addition bays for Hydroponic farms. It got to the point that the vault had essentially become a vast underground complex one of the largest if not the largest in America. The Vault eventually had enough redundant measures that the inhabitants could have very like stayed underground indefinitely or survive the Wasteland even if the G.E.C.K's did not work as advertised.

* * *

 **Armament**

Your average Phoenix Project Infantryman was equipped with combat armor but the battle-dress itself often varied among units as most of them came from different branches of the US military. Some units came from the regular army, others came from the Ranger divisions and shortly after the Anchorage Reclamation two Marine divisions were attached to the Project.

One of the battalions attached to the Project Phoenix were Power-armored infantry giving them access to about eight-hundred soldiers familiar with the use of Power Armor. The mainstay power armor of the US Army was T-51F model of Power Armor. But due to the abundance of T-45's it was easier to retrofit their T-45's with better systems such as an improved power grid to improve energy efficiency and enhanced servomotors to improve mobility. This resulted in the Upgraded T-45's becoming the workhorse power armor for the Mechanized infantry division with the T-51 being used by the more veteran troops.

The USAF valued their veteran soldiers, as such those who actually survived their tours were usually given (read: forced) Cybernetic implants that augmented their combat abilities, individuals of note include one Jacob Maxson and Benjamin Montgomery, two reconnaissance experts who were given several implants to increase their survivabilty. In fact, the majority of the Project soldiers from the Anchorage campaign have been given cybernetic implants on the orders of General Constantine Chase.

Since the Phoenix Project had servicemen and women from multiple branches the standard Firearms varied between units. The standard firearm was R91 Assault rifle for the soldiers from the Army Division. The S45-B Combat rifle was utilized by the Ranger Division , the S45-B was favored due it's high stopping power allowing the Rangers to fight in most Combat situations. Another weapon was the M-45 combat rifle. It was utilized by both Rangers and soldiers from the Marine Corp, it could converted from a battle rifle to a high-power semi-auto marksman rifle or even modified into a shotgun.

Like other weapons the Colt 6520 10mm pistol was chosen as the main sidearm for soldiers due to its reliability and the ease manufacture. Due to the fact that the military units came from different branches there were other sidearms in use like the Colt .45 Auto, AEP7 and Wattz 1000 laser pistols.

Snipers from all the battalions were armed with were equipped with DKS sniper rifles with the elite marksmen being given access to AMR's and Gauss Rifles

Power armored troops were often equipped with heavy weapons such as the Avenger Minigun or a Rocket Launcher, carrying an AER9 as a back up weapon.

Marines were equipped with different equipment from their Peer's. The AER9 and/or Wattz 2000 Laser rifles with AEP7's as sidearms were common amongst marines, though some marines preferred old fashioned firearms like the R91 assault rifle or the Colt .45 Auto

* * *

 **Phoenix Project Motor pool**

Stored in an underground facility connected to the Vault, the Phoenix Project was given access to mothballed vehicles from before the Resource Wars. This includes several Armored troop transports, twenty troop-transport helicopters and other vehicles. Unfortunately, time has not been kind to these vehicles and it will take some time before the entire motor pool goes operational.

* * *

 **Military Strength and Doctrine**

Without counting support staff or force multipliers such as Robots the Phoenix Project can count on about a eight thousand effectives. The Leader of the projects military was Major General Speirs.

Due to the need to secure their surrounding area and the fact that they cannot risk sending large units out into the wasteland, They had to make up for lacking numbers via force multipliers, this includes but is not limited to Artillery, Air Support and Robotic assistance via sentry bot and assaultron support.

While they do have about eight hundred soldiers familiar with the use of Power armor, they only have about two hundred and fifty suits total and must be careful with their deployments, as at the moment they lack the advanced facilities needed to make more Power armor exoskeletons.

A squad often consisted of five soldiers. Most would be equipped with either M45's or R91's one or two would carry a heavy ordinance weapon like a grenade launcher, Bigger weaponry such as the Avenger Minigun or Rocket Launcher were reserved for Power Armor troops.

Due to their low numbers the Project had to emphasize combined-arms tactics. Due to lacking the complex machinery needed to produce more, Power armor was used as a heavy weapons platform, supporting an infantry advance rather than a spearhead. Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Braun and her personnel, A G.E.C.K was modified to convert matter into oil. This resulted in the endeavor to restore the Pre-Resource war vehicles, such as helicopters and their troop transport variants into working condition. The intent was to have them be used as troop transports as a stopgap measure.

Most of the Military elements of the Project come from the USAF's Ranger and Marine corp, with a few units from the regular army attached. They have support staff from the Airforce in form of Vertibird pilots and mechanics, And elements from the Army Corp of Engineers.

* * *

 **The long Author's Note:**

The S-40-B Combat rifle is the Fallout New Vegas Service rifle chambered to 12.7mm (think Survivalist Rifle).

M-45 is the Fallout 4 Combat rifle.

The troop transport helicopters are CH-47 or CH-46 (Chinook and Sea Knight) helicopters.

The BDU (AKA: Battle Dress Uniform) varies from standard combat armor, to ranger armor to the Marine combat armor found at Far Harbour.

So yeah, this was something I wrote awhile ago (about two months before I posted the first chapter of _Records)_ , I chose the number based off of how many soldiers the NCR and Caesar's Legion would potentially have, I am assuming that both factions have brought a portion of their entire force as they both control large areas, NCR has about 10,000+ soldiers while Caesar's Legion would have brought about 8700+.

I am assuming that the NCR has many more back home and on the Legion this is a very low estimate on the assumption that Caesar got a minimum of a hundred men for each tribe he conquered (87) and a statement made in game where someone mentioned that Caesar had thousands of men behind him. Whereas the OC faction would have about 8,600 soldiers total (including military robots) which means committing a large number is very risky for them (which they won't, i'm not even sure if they will send men to the Mojave) as they need to protect their own home.

Now I never actually found any source that gave me a definite number in terms of faction soldiers, so I may alter this when I do more research

New Phoenix is located South of Real-life Kingston peak, California. Which is where I assume Big MT is located based off of Joshua Graham's Dialogue in Honest Hearts.

Loads and loads of OC's in this, Jacob is the younger adopted brother of one Roger Maxson. Jacob is a veteran soldier who fought in Operation Anchorage alongside one Benjamin Montgomery and Nathaniel Howard (You may recognize those names). In this AU The Anchorage Simulation was a highly fictionalized and significantly altered account of Jacob's exploits with the Lone Wanderer essentially taking his place. Jacob will be the Main PoV involved in the events (alongside the Courier who now that I've polished it will have a background based off of the Fallout: New California Mod) of both New Vegas and the Commonwealth.

Other OC's include the Project heads like Marcus Speirs, a maverick military commander and a bit more notably Michael Greenwood/Jason Frost a US anti-war Politician and former/retired DIA operative. An arc I want to write involves the 'Great Game' mentioned in _Point Lookout._

The Truth about the Project is that it also acted as dumping ground for Soldiers and Scientists that were disaffected with the current government. Both Speirs and Braun were essentially sent there because they did not approve of what was happening (Read: the previous Non-intervention with the UN and Annexation of Canada and got screwed over by politics, The Major-General was somewhat vocal with how Anchorage was handled and the sheer amount of casualties taken, Braun found out about the FEV at Mariposa when samples were sent to her for research). Jacob Maxson who in this story is a War hero was attached to the project due to his father being a part of the anti-war protests, Benjamin Montgomery and some the Anchorage soldiers were attached because they were essentially damned by association (Not that they blamed Jacob)

For the Government (Read: Enclave) it was never meant to be a plan to safeguard America, but the ones placed in charge had originally decided that if they were going supposed to be contingency plan for potential Nuclear Annihilation, it was going to be done right. With the backing of a US senator who actually wanted it to work, they were able to make it happen. As the Project builds up the ones in charge start seeing an unpleasant picture. What essentially happens right before the War starts is a mutiny against the government. The Project leaders and backers seal up the Vault before the Government (Read: Enclave) can take control of it which happens just as bombs drop nearby New Phoenix Vault.

The Story will mostly be told from Jacob's perspective so to speak, as there will be segments with other characters as PoV's or interludes and the occasion Pre-war interlude.

Could this become a sort of Curb-stompy/invincible army OP Faction fanfic? Possibly, though their situation is a fish-out-water scenario (they're gonna _love_ facing the mutated beasts like Deathclaws and Cazadores, some will even get to meet the Tunnelers of the Divide, fun!) but then quickly adapting (Most of the soldiers in Mechanized, Marine and ranger groups are Anchorage Veterans, I would like to think that they would adapt/learn faster) and beginning the process of rebuilding. Due to their familiarity and knowledge of pre-war tech they can potentially ramp-up in terms of military strength via force multipliers. Though numbers and manpower will be an issue for them.

* * *

 **Several times I asked myself if this was realistic and then had to remind myself that it is Fallout, not necessarily that realistic. For this I'll be upscaling a lot (in the sense that areas/regions in the games are much larger so to speak)**

 **Fun Fact: everything I looked up on the Marines in Fallout pointed out the the US Marine Corp had access to energy weapons.**

 **There were several images that inspired me to write this google "Fallout 4 Concept Art Battle" It was the first four that set off the plot bunny for some reason.**

 **Their tech will 'mostly' be the stuff we see in New Vegas, Fallout 1 and 2 since they're in the West Coast (examples of things they won't have include X-01 Power armor, Plasma weaponry seen in Fallout 3 and new vegas.)**

 **I've always wanted to throw characters like Cass, Boone and Arcade into the Commonwealth which is where i would go with this eventually.**

 **Another reason for publishing/writing/fleshing this out was because Fallout related plot bunnies were distracting me when I was working on other stuff including schoolwork**

 **In the next couple of weeks I'm going to dump everything I wrote for this after some editing.**

 **Everything will be posted in this. unlike how I separated it like _Records_ and the _Forge, though i will attempt to keep it chronologically aligned_**


	3. Dramatis Personae

**As I've said before this is less of a new project that i'll be working on consistently but a collected info dump for the future.**

 **I did a bit of research when I wrote this originally, Roger Maxson (founder of the BoS) had no mention of extended family so I made one while welding characters from Fallout 4 as well. In this case one of the Main Character is the OC adopted brother of Roger Maxson, with Nora from Fallout 4 being their sister(since their was no mention of her having any relatives) this was partially done to create complications in the future.**

 **Unlike _Records_ I will put all OC's (Benjamin is an exception) in this page, which means this will have additions in the future.**

 **This should give you an idea on how their sojourn to the Mojave is gonna start.**

* * *

 **Dramatis Personae**

 **Name:** Jacob "Jake" Maxson

 **Born:** March 28th 2049

 **Age:** 27 **(** Chronologically: 231 **)**

 **Physical Appearance:** Dark Hair, Blue eyes (Actor reference Henry Cavill or Eric Bana)

 **Hometown:** Lexington, Virginia

 **Occupation:** Soldier (Ranger)

 **Family:** Shaun Maxson (Adoptive Father, Deceased killed before the Great War ) Elizabeth Maxson (Nee Rosier Adoptive Mother, deceased) Roger Maxson (Foster Brother, deceased) Nora Howard (nee Maxson Foster Sister, Frozen in Vault 111) Nathaniel Howard (Brother-in-Law frozen in Vault 111)

 **Nicknames:** Frost, Tin-Man (when in power armor)

 **Significant Others:** Vera Harkness (Ex-girlfriend, Unknown)

 **Equipment (Post-Awakening):** S-45B Combat Rifle, Colt 6520 10mm Pistol, Combat Armor and duster (google "NCR ranger armor concept art" third and fourth result, or think of the advanced riot gear from _Lonesome Road._ This is his initial appearance) , Combat Knife, Pip-Boy (Heavily modified by project technicians).

 **Biography**

Adopted by Shaun Maxson after the death of his parents, Jacob led a quiet life for a time. With the death of his foster father during an anti-war protest he, his Foster mother and his siblings had moved out of the city to a farm in the rural area. Due to his mother's illness and his older brother being drafted Jacob and his sister had to work around the farm. When they had saved up enough money through Jacob's odd jobs around town and Roger's military pay, they had used what they had saved to send Nora to Law school, leaving Jacob with the work around the farm, it was at this point that he developed a fascination with technology. Having been putting aside a little bit of money he eventually acquired several tools and devices that made life on a farm much easier and allowing him to spend more time to tending to his mother. Due to how expensive it was to hire people for repairs, Jacob learned how to maintain equipment by himself.

In 2067 there was an incident involved with the son of a local politician and Jacob, While most of it has been redacted due to the ties of the victim to the government, it resulted in Jacob facing jail time. Two army officers were present and were the ones who subdued him during said incident. Mildly impressed by what they had seen they gave him a choice, Join the army or go to jail. It became a much easier decision when they offered to take care of his mother's medical fees.

Jacob went into the Military and went through basic training. During training he caught the eye one Aarne Johansson, a Ranger Captain. Afterward he was transferred into the Ranger Division and went through their additonal training with ease. After that he had be had been rotated to posts all over the United States, in 2074 he was sent to the Frontlines in Anchorage Alaska. It was here that he met one Benjamin Montgomery, who saved his life after the plane he was on was shot down. These two would be among some of the best scouts at the disposal of the American forces for a time.

During one mission, they were sent out to find a missing soldier. Said soldier was wearing power armor. During said mission Benjamin was injured and Jacob had to somehow get both Benji and KIA soldier back to camp. Left with little choice, Jacob got the soldier out of the Power armor and put it on himself. It took a couple of hours but Jacob got them both back to the base camp. Due to lacking operators Jacob was allowed to use the recovered power armor and did so for several missions, by the time he stopped the Chinese had come up with a name for him but he had no idea what it meant.

Eventually he and Benjamin were placed in a unit under Major Nathaniel Howard, This was somewhat awkward as the Major was in fact the fiancé of his sister. Nevertheless this unit would go on to perform many surgical strikes in the Anchorage campaign, it was only disbanded and the soldiers in it sent back to their respective units after the conclusion of the Anchorage campaign.

In the final days of the Anchorage campaign, being one of the few experienced power armors users Jacob was allowed to use the new T-51b Power armor. Jacob used it to deadly effect and joined the spearhead that destroyed the Chinese defenders, reclaiming Anchorage. He and a few other were lauded as heroes, Though due to his father's history the others took more of the spotlight, which was perfectly fine by him.

 **Notable Facts:**

\- Learned how to use Power Armor in the field while at the Anchorage Frontline.

\- Moves fast in power armor (Think fully trained William Cage in _Edge of Tomorrow_ ).

\- Given proper Power-armor training after his second tour.

\- Described by peers as extremely lucky, there was an incident in Las Vegas where he broke the bank.

\- Given several field promotions during Anchorage Reclamation campaign.

\- Was given a commission after Anchorage, promoted to the same rank as his brother.

\- One of the Three "Heroes of Anchorage".

\- Posed and smiled (read: forced) for a recruitment poster, fellow soldiers would not let him live it down.

 **Notable Skills**

\- Proficient Marksman

\- Reconnaissance specialist

\- Ranger Stealth Training (Hit and Run tactics)

\- Informal Power Armor Training (learned on the field via trial and (in some cases painful) error before gaining proper training)

\- Proficient in Computer Science/Programming

\- Knowledgeable in repairing pre-war technology

\- Power Armor Maintenance

\- Familiar with Bivouac building

 **Quotes By him**

" _Anchorage changed us all. That isn't necessarily a good thing."_ – Talking to his older brother about General Constantine Chase

" _It's all gone, everything is gone…" –_ Upon emerging from the Phoenix Vault

" _I already had bits of metal in me and I really hated that… Are you saying that you put more?!"_ – Confronting the Think-Tank on their 'improvements'

 _"As much as I dislike saying it, their soldiers are good at what they do."_ -On Caesar's Legion

 **Quotes About him**

" _When you first look at him he comes across as a simpleton. But when you take the image of a 'Country Hick' away you realize he's much smarter than most give him credit for."_ – Dr. Erika Braun to Major General Speirs after meeting him

" _During the Anchorage Reclamation he pushed his Power Armor beyond its tested performance capabilities, He practically destroyed it by straining it so much but still..."_ \- Dr. Thaddeus Zero on Jacob Maxson's use of the T-51 Power armor

" _Apparently the Reds had a name for him, Jià shen or something like that. Not a fucking clue on what that means but if that meant something along the lines of unstoppable force, well… It would be a very fitting description."_ – Colonel Jack Green

" _Solid and dependable, Stays calm under fire. Couldn't ask for anyone else to watch my back"_ – Gunnery Sergeant Benjamin Montgomery

" _Ma? Jake? Nora? I'm coming home…"_ – Year 2135, High Elder Roger Maxson's Last words

* * *

 **Name:** Benjamin "Benji" Montgomery.

 **Born:** October 13th 2045

 **Age:** 32 (Chronologically: 236)

 **Physical Appearance:** Brown hair, Green Eyes (Actor reference: Clive Standen)

 **Hometown:** Bar Harbour Mount Desert Island, Maine.

 **Occupation:** Soldier (Marine Corp)

 **Family:** Katherine Montgomery (nee Martin) (Spouse, Frozen in Phoenix Vault), Logan Montgomery ( Son, 5 years old, Frozen in Phoenix Vault)

 **Equipment Post Awakening:** AER9 Laser Rifle, Grenade rifle, .45 Auto pistol. Marine Combat Armor, C-4 and Remote detonator, Combat Knife

 **Notable Facts**

\- Did five tours in Anchorage Alaska.

\- Saved Jacob Maxson's life during Jacob's first tour in Anchorage.

\- Successfully disarmed active bombs on several POW's.

\- One of the "Three Heroes of Anchorage".

\- -Supposedly punched General Babcock in the face after he dismissed the sacrifices of the soldiers at Anchorage.

 **Notable Skills**

\- Familiar with working on a ship

\- Demolition Expert

\- Explosive ordinance disposal/disarming

\- Reconnaissance training

\- Crackshot

\- Marine Stealth Training (infiltration)

\- Assaulting Fortified Positions

 **Biography**

Born in Bar Harbour , Benjamin Montgomery originally joined the United States Navy, but due to man-power shortages in the Armed-Forces was promptly transferred to United States Marine Corp. After going through additional training, he was assigned to their Force Reconnaissance Unit. Benjamin had done several tours in the Anchorage Front-line. At one point he saved one Jacob Maxson after his para-drop went wrong and the plane he was on crashed. After that he and Maxson would be attached to Major Nathaniel Howard's Unit. By the end of the conflict he, Nathaniel and Jacob would be referred to as the Heroes of Anchorage much to their private dismay.

His unit would be sent to the West coast, but not before he had a chance to attend Major Howard's wedding with the absence of the bride's eldest brother it was Jacob who gave away the bride. Shortly after his relocation his family had also made the move, they were able to reach the Vault before the bombs had dropped.

After the Anchorage Reclamation he was programmed into a simulation, but it had some glaring differences. For one he came across as zealous patriot in the simulation when he was a bit more questioning about the actions of his government.

While he would rather stay back and protect his Family, Benjamin head to Mojave with Jacob hoping to find out what happened to the missing soldiers

 **Quotes by Him**

" _Oh, What the fuck. They're walking flamethrowers?!"_ – After nearly being set on fire by a Fire Gecko

" _Oh_ _I'm sorry, I'm still hung up on the part where they said they took out our brains!"_ – To Jacob Maxson when he asked why he seemed so calm

" _Reminds me of General Babcock, Asshole."_ – On General Oliver

" _God that's fucking creepy." –_ On Robert House

 **Quotes about Him**

" _I remember when Winter's died, poor bastard. Red's did a number on him before they killed him. Benji and this other guy, I think his name was Jacob or something. Anyways, they both went AWOL, command gave them a slap on the wrist when returned weeks later, probably because they came back with the head of a Chinese commander and vital intel. Winters was new, green as grass, all I know is that he was assigned to their Unit. When they came to the funeral everyone brought flowers, not them. They were both holding bags, they upended them and so many bits of metal came out, upon looking closer I realized those were dog tags, Commie dog tags."_ \- Sergeant Michael Davis

" _The Reds captured one of ours and left out him out to die. Man was crying out for help. Saw Sergeant Montgomery and few others get up to go look for him, I remember telling them it was a trap. Montgomery simply said "I know." before going out to look for the guy." –_ Major Jethro Diamond

* * *

 **Name:** Marcus Speirs

 **Born:** January 27th 2036

 **Age:** 41 (Chronologically 245)

 **Physical Appearance:** Dark brown hair, greying. brown eyes (Actor reference: James Purefoy)

 **Hometown:** Austin, Texas

 **Occupation** : Military officer (Army)

 **Notable Facts:**

Career soldier

Served in Anchorage Campaign from the Beginning

Given promotion to Major General in the final months of the Anchorage Reclamation

Due to being tied to a number of Phoenix Project Personnel he was transferred over after the deaths of the officers tied to it.

* * *

 **Name:** Jason Frost/Michael Greenwood

 **Born:** July 23rd 2019

 **Age:** 58 (Chronologically: 262)

 **Physical appearance:** Grey/white hair, blue eyes (Actor Reference: Stephen Lang)

 **Family: -REDACTED- ( Deceased)**

 **Hometown:** New York, New York State

 **Occupation:** Politician, DIA Field Operative (Former)

 **Notable facts:**

Served in the USAF, Recruited into the DIA

Often described as a Traditional Patriot by his DIA peers (Espoused the the ideals of Freedom, Liberty, Unity)

Gathered significant personal assets in the midst of his career in addition to being from old money.

Former DIA agent

Faked his death, re-assumed his actual name.

Moved to the Southwest Commonwealth, eventually ran for election as Senator.

Kept in touch with other retired DIA operatives.

Silent Backer of Quare Verum with assets he acquired from his previous career

He along with a few other former DIA infiltrated and erased all relevant location data on the Phoenix Project

 **Bio**

If there was one word to describe Michael Greenwood it was Patriot. During basic training he was approached by the DIA. They said that he could better serve his country by working for them, and he believed it. The DIA gave him a new name: Jason Frost. It was a name feared by many in the intelligence community. Frost had been responsible for Several high-profile assassinations in Europe and Asia, and no one ever knew he was there.

At the time he truly believed that he was helping his country, but as the years went on he became more and more disillusioned to the point that he decided to resign from the DIA.

Retiring just Resource Wars began, With his alias being infamous, Jason Frost faked his death and Michael Greenwood returned back to society. Eventually he drifted from the East coast and settled in the Southwest Commonwealth. This did not mean he left community, he kept in touch with a lot of his former colleagues, who kept him aware of domestic and international issues

A few years later he wounded up becoming an elected official for the US Government. A few years later he found out about the Phoenix Project. Pulling a few strings he met with the Project head and provided silent support to the Project. Using connections from his previous Career, Greenwood ensured that the project had access to various assets.

He had found out about the Conspiracy shortly after he started providing aid to the Project, Once he had ascertained who among his former colleagues could be trusted, he provided silent aid to Reid Underwood in forming the Quare Verum group. For a time they went undetected, unbeknownst to Underwood Quare Verum acted as a decoy for Greenwood and his colleagues, allowing them to act unimpeded while the group drew more attention from the Conspiracy.

Unfortunately this did not last, against the wishes of their supporters Quare Verum began taking more proactive measures against the conspiracy. This had ended in the complete destruction of Quare Verum. Greenwood and his allies had erased their own trails long before the Conspiracy could find them and they never did. Greenwood began pooring more resources and assets into the Phoenix Project as what could find pointed to the possibility of Nuclear War.

By the end of the Anchorage campaign , Greenwood grew suspicious of the deaths of several military officers. All of the deceased officers had ties to the Phoenix Project and the one in charge of the soldiers had died in a friendly fire 'accident'. Greenwood investigated and found that the conspiracy was trying to assert control over the Project, As several attempts at subverting the personnel had failed the conspiracy had opted for outright assassination, it was only luck that the replacement officer was not affiliated with the Conspiracy but rather a man who was damned by the connections of his superior officers.

When Marcus Speirs began his investigation into his predecessor's death, Greenwood had to intervene lest he be killed. Before he could dig too deep Greenwood approached him and had him appraised of the situation. Speirs agreed to play along if only to help.

Having heard from his contacts and knowing that he had no less than few days before the bombs would drop, Speirs took on the mantle of Jason Frost one more time. He along with a few others had infiltrated locations affiliated with the Conspiracy. Their objective? Steal as much data as they could and erase all information on the Phoenix Project. Their objective complete, Frost and his compatriots left for the Phoenix Project. He informed Major General Speirs of who from the conspiracy was coming to the Vault. Frost and his compatriots had arranged accidents for most of them, but Speirs had several soldiers ready to eliminate the ones that survived those attempts.

In the intelligence community, Secrecy was important. Jason Frost was a name never spoken lightly and only spoken in hushed tones and to many more he was just a myth, just the way he liked it. He had many secrets, and if he had anything to say about it none of it will see the light of day.

 **Quotes by Him**

 _"Once upon a time, that flag meant something. Once it was a symbol of unity, of freedom and liberty and now? Now it's just a symbol others fear. One day I would like to change that." -_ To his fellow DIA retirees

 _"I hid behind another name for so long that I almost forgot why I did it in the first place."_

 **Quotes About him**

 _"If it weren't for the fact that I was informed of it, I wouldn't have thought him a former spook." -_ Benjamin Montgomery to his commanding officer.

 _"There are moments where it feels like he's looking right through you."_ \- Jacob Maxson

* * *

 **Author Commentary**

So I'm not sure if Angst is the Proper word to describe Jacob's emotional state. He does not necessarily miss the old world, his Foster father died in an anti-war protest, he and his family had to leave his home due to the social stigma of his father being a protestor, he had just gotten out of fighting one of the bloodiest conflicts in Pre-war history, if anything he might be somewhat relieved the American government is gone. But on the other hand most of his family and loved ones are dead. For a time he doesn't really have much to live for, but he's not suicidal. On the other hand he's not gonna freak out when death is staring him in the eye.

For Jacob, grief might be a better word for all he knows his brother and sister are dead since its been almost 200 years, the woman he loves is most likely dead as well. Is he showing any of this during the story? Yes and No, No in the sense that for the most part he's going to 'soldier on' for a time after all while the USAF is gone there still a command structure. Following orders will allow him to cope for a time but events in the Mojave will force him to confront his demons and grief and 'let go'. Yes, in the sense that there will be moments when he may or may not come across as vulnerable and weak.

Compared to Jacob, Benji is much better off, for one his family is still alive. If anything he'll be doing his best to keep Jacob from doing something stupid.

Dr. Erika Braun is pretty much an expy of Amanda Vahlen from XCOM:EU, but has the other personnel acting as a control, and no aliens to interrogate. Make of that what you will.

Michael Greenwood is a disillusioned Government official with what amounts to one of the greatest stories that very few will actually know. Eventually a certain ghoul will be out for his blood, if said ghoul finds out he's still alive. His fellow former DIA did get into the Vault and will stay in the shadows unless if they need to come out.

Another thing to point out is that Jacob is a ranger/technician hybrid hence why he has a pip-boy and Montgomery doesn't, The pip boy is modified so he can store large amounts of data on it. Benjamin is basically a commando with a penchant for explosives. Benjamin can bring down any fortification if given enough time. Jacob in Power armor is not something you want to see if your his enemy. What both have in common is their preference for a stealth-based/careful approach to combat (It's what keeps them alive during their brief period of fish-out-of water)

* * *

 **Google "Fallout your country needs you" if you want to know what I meant by recruitment poster**

 **You may be wondering why Speirs has no Bio and why Erika Braun has no entry, the answer is that I had not made one when I wrote this, I am simply editing what I've already written.**

 **For the two who will be going to the Mojave I decided to give them SPECIAL stats. Though I did leave their SPECIAL up to chance or dice roll. I used one of my old 10-sided dice to do their SPECIAL stats. Instead I got a few absurdly high roles for each of them.**

 **Jacob:**

 **S:6**

 **P:7**

 **E: 5**

 **C:5**

 **I: 8…**

 **A: 7**

 **L : 10…**

 **Benjamin:**

 **S: 8…**

 **P:5**

 **E: 9…**

 **C: 3**

 **I: 5**

 **A: 7**

 **L: 4**

 **Yeah… I'm not sure if I should keep those stats. On one hand that's absurdly high, on the other hand that's the first time I rolled a ten with that particular die so…**

 **If I did keep this, the easiest way for me to justify** _ **some**_ **of this (No clue how to justify Jacob's Luck Stat) would be to say that it's the result of both having gone through Military Training (Read: Miltary training = Intense Training perk) and their multiple tours of the Anchorage Front, which basically gave them 'experience' and allowed them to 'level up'**

 **I butchered the romanized Mandarin on purpose, do you think that Fallout Americans really care if they're saying it right?**

 **On the Names of the Maxson family, Shaun Maxson was deliberate, I figured that if I made Roger Maxson and Nora the step-siblings of the OC, inserting another OC as the Namesake of Shaun in Fallout 4 wouldn't be particularly strange, it would also justify in this AU on how she knows how to shoot so well if shes the one who survives (Her brothers would have taught her). Yeah, I'm not sure who to let live**


	4. Character Snippets

**Very brief/short scenes or snippets that wouldn't stand on their own, but do help characterize/ give background to Jacob Maxson and Michael Greenwood , I may do this for other characters.**

 **So I played the New California mod, and I loved it. So this courier will have an origin based off of that, so at the very least the Courier's last name will be Star, but I'm still debating on if the Courier is male or female.**

* * *

 **Character Snippets and Scraps (Pre-War)**

 ** _Jacob Scene 1_**

"Stay away from my sister." Jacob says.

The man scoffs "Or what? You'll call the cops?"

"Nope, the cops won't hauling you to jail" Jacob lifts the shovel in his hands, which looked like it had been inadvertently sharpened from extended use.

"They'll be hauling _me_ to jail."

For a moment the man looks afraid, before scoffing and storming off.

* * *

 ** _Scene 2_**

 _AN: he refers to the person as a bastard, I didn't give the man a name since he's essentially a one-off_

He warned the bastard, but would he listen? Nope, not even for a moment. Nora had barely escaped when the man tried to assault her. Jacob didn't know who he was, but he didn't really care. He had already called Roger and he said he was coming home the moment he could go on leave.

Jacob approached the bar where that bastard was, No one touched his family and walked away, neither he or Roger would stand for it.

"I warned you to stay away from my sister." His tone was flat almost dispassionate.

The bastard sneered. "Piss off farmboy,"

"You can't touch me, My father owns this town." The man seemed much braver now that he had people with him.

Jacob sighs. He notices that people were leaving the bar, they already knew it was going to get violent. After most of the patrons had left, he walked towards the door and locked it.

It was at this moment when Jacob was walking back towards him, that the bastard realized that he was trapped in a bar with a kid who threatened to kill him just a few days ago.

"Daddy's money and influence won't save you from me." Jacob answered calmly, it was the last thing he said as he proceeded to use the shovel he brought with him to attack the bastard.

Before the man could react, he was already on the ground. The men with him shocked at the sudden attack collected their wits and charged at Jacob. But it was a little too late, Jacob was waiting for them.

Turns out that working on a farm allowed you to build a fair bit of strength. As the bastard's friends found out hard way. Surprisingly it didn't take that much to lay them out. and unlike them Jacob had a weapon.

The fight wasn't long and drawn out, they were caught off guard. That made it much easier to take them down.

Jacob noticed that the bastard was trying to crawl away. He walks up to him and turns him onto his back, at this point the poor bastard had started pissing himself.

"Like I said before, They won't be hauling you to jail." He brought the shovel above his head

"They'll be sending me to jail." He brought the shovel down.

* * *

 ** _Scene 3_**

"So you're telling me that one of the local farm boys beat up the mayor's son and castrated him?"

"Yes sir."

"Any idea why?"

"Apparently before the violence started, farmboy said and I quote: I warned you to stay away from my sister."

So the mayor's son attempted to assault the perp's sister. And it turned out that a member of the woman's family had no qualms about striking back.

When they got to the scene they found the mayor's son in a bloody heap.

Two army boys had come to their favorite bar for a night of drinking. Only to find that it was closed. When they heard the screaming, they broke down the door, and found the perp beating the victim bloody.

They subdued him, but he made good fight of it. If the shiner one of the soldiers had was any indication.

When they questioned him, they asked if he knew who he had attacked and he responded "Am I supposed to care?" kid looked completely unrepentant about the whole matter.

"After he had been subdued, The victim then threatened to hurt the perps family…" what he wasn't saying was the soldier's stated he made threat to hurt the perp's family more particularly suggesting that he would inflict some sort depravity on them.

"… at which point the perp got free and picked up his fallen weapon and used it to castrate the victim."

The Sheriff did not believe for a second that the perp got free on his own. He knew those soldiers, they were good at what they did. It was more likely that they let him go and then subdued him again once he had castrated the victim.

It only got more complicated when the Mayor stormed in and started threatening the kid.

* * *

 ** _Jacob Scene 4_**

A man in uniform had walked in, he held sheaf of papers.

"Jacob Maxson, adopted son of Shaun and Elizabeth Maxson. Foster sibling to one Nora and Roger Maxson." He flipped over a few papers.

"Nora Maxson had just finished her law degree and was drafted into the reserves, and Roger Maxson is a Captain in the USAF."

Outwardly Jacob showed no response, but inwardly he was worried. The man who entered the interrogation room wore an army uniform like his brother, except this one had more decorations on it and a different rank insignia.

"Elizabeth Maxson was diagnosed with cancer two months ago." Jacob twitched ever so slightly.

"Higgs and Douglas told me of how good you are in a fight." The soldier pulled out a cigar and lit it.

The two soldiers stormed into the bar to find some poor sap being beaten to death. They subdued him but when they heard the idiot victim make some threats on the perpetrator's family…

As far as everyone knew Jacob had managed to slip from grasp and castrate the idiot in the span of a minute.

Ha, as if that was possible. Higgs and Douglas were good at what they did, a farm boy slipping out of their grasp was unlikely. Both of them were locals apparently, they knew the kid and his family, both of them admitted as much. Despite their father's questionable reputation, Elizabeth Maxson and her children were well regarded in countryside, and when the victim threatened her and her daughter…

Well let's just say the locals tend to stick with their own especially neighbors they regard highly, and may or may not have let him go to do as wanted.

The mayor had been screaming for the kid's blood right until it got exposed that he had been covering up his son's misdemeanors. Clammed up pretty good, especially since several the idiot's victims came from influential families. Hearing of the state of their rapist, several victims started pressing charges. Locals were now out for blood, the Mayor's blood. Now he's trying cover his ass.

Which leaves this kid stuck bureaucratic limbo. On one hand, he was defending his family. On the other hand, he did commit assault. Considering he laid several people flat and even held his own against trained soldiers.

Recruiting someone who was already capable of that is very appealing, pulling a few strings to get him sent to the army rather than jail would be easy. Loath they may be to admit it, The war is bleeding America dry. Even if they sent him to jail they may just draft him anyways.

Jacob didn't answer

"You have a choice kid, you can go to jail or you can join the army like your brother."

"Because if you and your brother are in the military and your sister is being sent to the reserves, your mother will be left all alone." The Soldier took a drag from his cigar.

He was still silent, and the soldier sighed.

"Look kid, the army needs soldiers. Your brother and your sister are in the Army now. You take this option, and I guarantee that your mother will be taken care of in your absence. But if you go to jail then she'll have to live on her own, both of your siblings' postings are far away, so what'll it be?"

Jacob answered.

* * *

 ** _Jason Frost/Michael Greenwood Scene 1_**

It never really bothered him that much, Killing that is.

For Jason Frost it was as easy as breathing.

" _The threat is real, your country needs you"_ Those words echoed in his head. It was because those words that he joined the DIA.

It all started when he joined the army. Last member of an old family from southern gentry wanting to do his part for his country. Maybe that's why they recruited him.

For a time he actually believed it, but as he completed more operations it started to feel pointless.

How many people had he killed in the name of protecting his country? Many of them were traitors, opportunists who sold out their own country. But others? Not all of them were traitors Jason could tell the difference, some were at the wrong place at the wrong time, some were simply assets that did not realized they were being used.

Not that it stopped the higher ups from ordering all of them killed.

 _"Seek the truth, No matter how horrible it is."_

His own father once said that, and once upon a time the DIA lived by those words, to defend their nation they had to seek the truth.

The truth was ugly.

It's been twenty years.

Twenty years of service.

Twenty years of defending his nation.

Twenty years of killing whatever threatened his homeland.

Now? he was tired, he was sick of it.

* * *

 ** _Scene 2_**

After he had long 'retired' and took up his real name, he had somehow ended up in politics. While there he found out a truth he so desperately wanted to ignore.

Nuclear war was imminent. Not necessarily soon, maybe not for a decade or two. But it was going to happen and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Maybe he was being paranoid, but there were signs that the government was compromised. From what he could tell the government was aware of Nuclear war becoming a very real possibility, but they were doing very little in terms of Counter measures.

Project Safehouse? There weren't enough 'Vaults' for every single American Citizen. Sad fact of reality was that it was unlikely that they could save them all.

He built up contacts, some were former coworkers, others were old friends from a long time ago.

Now he was hearing talk of another Project.

Some of his former coworkers had extended family working for it, seems like the ones in charge of the 'Project Phoenix' mean to try do something, most of their scientists were looking into technologies that could help in environmental restoration while others were looking at developing equipment to survive "Post-Nuclear war" scenarios.

Might be worth looking into.

* * *

 ** _Scene_ 3**

While he was retired he kept in touch with others in a similar circumstances.

They had stayed out of the intrigue and plots like himself, but still kept their ears to the ground.

The Phoenix project wasn't big enough to be a solution for Nuclear war, but it was big enough that it could do something in the aftermath.

If there is a 'conspiracy' they've done little to influence the project. The heads of the project were smart, they quietly espoused the idea that the project would help protect America if the bombs went off.

Not necessarily true, but it still appealed enough to gain silent backing from several influential people. Greenwood believed that a few of them knew what was coming, a few gave their support but had the stipulation that their families would have places in the 'Vault' that the project had built. From what he had been told, it was shaping up to be much larger than any vault from Project Safehouse.

He couldn't help but feel sorry for them, America slowly became a shadow of what it once was and now?

Now they had to do their damnedest keep it afloat, saving their families must have been a small comfort for them.

Michael had to talk to a new contact, one Reid Underwood...

* * *

 **Scene 4**

There were times where Michael hated being right, this was one of those times.

Turns out there really was a conspiracy, Underwood stumbled right into it.

A fucking Shadow Government, How high did it go up? How long had this been going for? Years? Decades? didn't matter now.

Michael tried to stop Reid but he wouldn't listen, too damned gung-ho. Man's heart was in the right place, but when dealing with something like this, patience and cautiousness were the watchwords of the day. A lesson some of his deceased colleagues found out the hard way decades ago.

Michael had to pull the plug on Quaere Verum, get as many as he could out before Underwood could get everyone killed.

Quaere Verum was the Motto and objective of the DIA a long time ago, long before he joined.

To protect the nation, Seek the truth.

No matter how horrible it was.

* * *

Only bright spots in all of this is that most of us got away free and clean, except for those directly under the command of Underwood. They were caught and killed, but there was no sign of Reid himself.

The only other good thing to come out of this was the gathered intel.

Michael couldn't help but be surprised by how easy it was to cover their tracks. It felt too easy but there were no signs that there was a ploy to get them to let their guards down.

Was it arrogance? Did they think Underwood commanded all of Quaere Verum? Did they think they got them all?

Didn't matter. Now they had names and faces for this conspiracy.

It will take some time, but the information will be acted upon.

* * *

 **I might do this for other characters in the future.**


	5. Sample

**A sort of sample what I'm going to be writing. This does give away most of the Plot of the First Arc, like many things may to edit in the future.**

 **Debating if I should change Nora's name to something else**

 **Courier's Name is Leah Star, yes the Courier is female. When I wrote this I had no idea if I'd be doing a pairing or not.**

 **You're probably wondering why I rated this as Mature, mostly because Fallout is a bit of dark setting even if I'm technically shifting to a somewhat less grim setting.**

* * *

 _Hidden Phoenix Forward Operating Base, Mojave. 2081_

"Welcome back Captain,"

General Speirs looks at the veteran Ranger, he looks healthy and hale. He would have thought nothing had happened to him if it weren't for the fact that he now had a metal arm. His equipment had changed as well.

Before he could ask Jacob answered, "Found Big MT sir."

"Did you?" that explained the cybernetics. Speirs had sent out several scouting groups with several objectives: first get lay of the land, second map out area for potential expansion in the far future, and lastly secure any unclaimed Pre-war military and technological assets if there was little risk to themselves.

"Yes, Sir. The Think Tank of Big MT works for us now"

"Indeed." Four Pre-war scientists joining up with the Project and access to Big MT was going to be a major boon, especially if the information on the two major powers was accurate.

"For now, I'm afraid were going to have to gloss over the entirety of your journey"

"Yes Sir."

"What I want right now is a threat assessment of the various factions in the Wasteland,"

Speirs pulls out a file "Based off of compiled intel from out scouts to the east, the biggest threat is Caesar's Legion,"

Maxson looks ready to interrupt but stays silent.

"Speak freely Captain."

"Why are you asking me sir? You seem to have already come to a conclusion." he asks.

"Because you and Sergeant Montgomery have been in the Mojave for some time, you know more about the major players than any report could give, I want an honest no-shit assessment of the situation."

After the mysterious disappearance of two their best reconnaissance experts all attempts of scouting north were dropped. It was only after they had both made radio contact again a few months later that another recon force was sent north. At the time Speirs opted to focus more on building and fortifying.

Then when they had both returned they had achieved all their objectives and then some, they had brought a lot of things back. Prototype Pre-war tech, crates of Energy weapons, Firearms and munitions. New models of Power armor and other assets, but more importantly people. People who seemed disaffected by the ruling factions in the Mojave as well as Ghouls from before the war. Morale rose a little when a few ghouls recognized some of the soldiers, brothers and sisters reunited.

Some Ghouls were parents who got to be reunited with their children, it was nice reprieve from the Horrors they had confronted, to know they still had families despite it all. A small respite from their new reality.

"Caesar thinks that if he wins here he can roll over the NCR. That's not going to work."

"Oh?"

"The NCR isn't the Legion, you can't cut the head off the snake. It doesn't work, even if they assassinated the President would it matter in the long run?"

The answer was no, Speirs knew this. The NCR was a democracy, at times it was a disturbing reminder of their own government due to the 'Brahmin Barons' before the bombs but nonetheless a democracy. If they did Kill the president yes morale would plummet, yes their command would be put in disarray. But the President would still be replaced, there was a chain of command.

"The Legion is an effective war machine, not acknowledging that is a mistake, But it's going to collapse."

The Legion by all accounts hold control of Most of the Four-states commonwealth. If what Jacob had written was true, it highly secure and caravans can go to and from the various settlements. The Legion was a crude but effective war machine... but it had only tribals and raiders, when it encountered the NCR it was a whole different story.

"Caesar holds it by sheer force of will, by imposing himself and his ideals upon the Legion. It won't last, In all of my encounters against the Legion I've yet to hear or see anyone who comes close to being like him."

"Why does that matter?" Speirs was already coming to the conclusion but he still wanted to hear Maxson's assessment.

"What Caesar assumes is the NCR's weakness is actually his own." Maxson states.

There it was, kill Caesar and the Legion would collapse. Cut the head off the snake.

"Though it won't be sudden."

"Explain"

"The Legionnaries are trained to obey, to fear their commanders. Their Commanders will use this and for a time they will keep order." Jason picks up a glass of water and takes a sip.

He sets the glass down, "It won't last, the one that's most likely to be considered next in line for leadership is nothing like Caesar, unless if he consolidates their powerbase in the East, which is unlikely"

Jacob shuddered inwardly when he thought of Caesar's potential successor. If Jacob could avoid it, he would want nothing to do with Legate Lanius. The man was insane.

"The NCR is corrupt much like our own government was, Morale is low, they're being hit with guerilla styled attacks, they replaced a competent military commander with one that their troops call General Wait-and-see."

"Your opinion on the NCR general?

"Despite the disrespect he faces, he is a decent commander," Jason admits

"While his strategy is passive it's not necessarily a bad thing, strengthening supply lines, holding ground they already have, making sure combat support is up to scratch…" Jacob looked at Speirs wondering if he needed to go on.

"But?"

"But, Caesar has been more proactive or at least his covert operatives are. As I said before he's been using Guerilla tactics, made many attempts at sabotage."

He held his hand up in a halting gesture, Speirs understood what he was getting at. While the NCR general didn't necessarily have a bad strategy, against tactics like that, one needed to be more proactive in fighting.

"This conflict doesn't matter. Even if Caesar won the NCR is still the most dangerous group. Just because he takes Hoover Dam doesn't mean Vegas will crumble just like that and House is still in control."

Speir's frowned, one of the elephants in the room. Somehow Robert House of RobCo had survived the bombs, which should not be possible unless he froze himself. According to the intel Montgomery gathered he supposedly popped up briefly almost about 60 years after the bombs dropped and had been more or less active ever since. Hundred and forty-three years later, the average healthy human doesn't live that long and he's still around, somehow….

House has been around for a long time, yet he did little until the NCR showed up at Hoover Dam and he's done very little in restoring areas in the Mojave.

"Could we form an alliance with him?" Speirs' asks, having the man whose company literally provided most of America with computers and robots was not necessarily a bad thing.

Jacob twitched "I don't know sir." Speirs notes the reaction before continuing.

"Opinions on the man?"

"I don't like him, at all. He talks reviving America as once was."

Speirs almost shuddered, For all the Romanticism and propaganda America was not a pleasant place to live in.

Before Maxson could continue Speirs opted to change the subject,"Wasn't there some sort of bunker underneath the Legion fort?" he read that in the report, there was also mention of some sort collapse.

somewhat confused by the change of topic he still answered "There was, yes."

What Jacob wasn't saying was that the Legion demolished it and that most of the Securitrons that belonged to House were destroyed…

At least that what House thinks. What he doesn't know is that Jacob enlisted the help of one Dr. 0 in subverting the Securitrons. After House had hired him, Leah and Benji he 'borrowed' the Platinum Chip. He then went to Big MT requested Dr. 0's aid in altering the software. 0 was more than willing to help get one over his 'rival' as he called him.

Jacob came up with another idea based off the Transportalponder that the Think tank gave him. With the aid of the rest of the Think-Tank another program was implemented into the software, it made the securitrons' broadcast a signal, this allowed the teleporter at Big Mountain to lock onto the robots.

What Jacob didn't expect was that several legionaries loyal to some Legate Lanius following him down into the bunker. The original plan was to have loaded gun pointed at House in off chance he tried to backstab them. Instead he had to claim that he could only salvage about two hundred securitrons which were now in House's hands. The other six hundred got transported to Big MT and another two hundred were destroyed. House was upset to say the least. Paid him and told them to leave.

"Nevermind, we'll return to House later. Back to the NCR."

"you have to look at their history sir, the were two other Pre-war factions that emerged after the Great war, the Enclave and the Brotherhood of Steel."

At this statement, Speirs almost made a face. From what he already knew the Enclave was the name of the Pre-war conspiracy that disposed of several Army officers attached to this project, Officer who were very good friends.

He took a small measure of satisfaction when he heard of how they got destroyed by a 'primitive' they easily dismissed.

"Yes… your report mentioned that you've enlisted aid of a squadron of surviving Enclave Soldiers… Where are they now?" he asks,

"They left sir, looking for other elements who went to ground after they got _destroyed_ by the NCR."

Speirs could recognize the emphasis in Maxson's words. While a tribal was responsible for destroying the command structure of the Enclave, that still left a lot of them who would have most likely put up stiff resistance. Having power armor and Energy weapons should have allowed them to stall for a long time.

"I take they are among the potential recruits you mentioned in your reports?"

As much as he disliked the conspiracy, dismissing soldiers who were being persecuted for following orders never sat right with him. On one hand what the Enclave did was terrible, on the other hand it's almost forty years and they're still chasing soldiers long after those who ordered them to commit atrocities had been killed. Part of him felt sorry for them, another part could understand why.

Still if these former soldiers bring their old equipment with them, more suits for our mechanized infantry division wouldn't hurt and soldiers who had been trained by the Enclave most likely had similar training to their own. If they were willing to join up that would bolster their forces.

"Yes sir, along with several other groups."

"We keep getting off topic, so I take it both the Enclave and Brotherhood possessed better weaponry, armor and other equipment and still got destroyed?" Maxson nodded, That explains why he considered them more dangerous, One note in his faction dossiers mentioned that the Brotherhood was still around but hiding in Hidden Valley, an old USAF facility. The notes also mentioned the battle at HELIOS One and a 'Father Elijah' whom Jacob had eliminated, a side note mentioned that he sustained 'grievous' injuries during that confrontation…that might explain the arm.

The Brotherhood of Steel was formed Captain Roger Maxson, Jacob's foster brother. Speirs had almost expected bias from Captain Jacob but found none. His report had collated every single scrap of information he could get his hands on. There were many conflicting accounts but it all pointed to the several consistant facts.

Fact: That came from the United States Armed Forces like they did they even went as far as to defect. A good sign.

Fact: They had promptly gather all of the pre-war tech they could get their hands on. A sound idea considering all hell probably broke loose.

Fact: they immediately seize all pre-war technology from other wastelander groups claiming they should not use it. Fair enough, abusing pre war tech is not a good thing.

Fact: they never bothered sharing any technology that could have easily been deemed 'safe'. Rather, they keep it for themselves…

It was an unpleasant picture, he had expected Jacob to defend his brother's organization in his reports.

He didn't, Speirs couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

But from what Speirs could understand it meant that the NCR had enough manpower and firepower to outgun better trained and armed forces. As good as power armor was, hundreds if not thousands of bullets would destroy it given enough time and NCR had lots of bullets. That was discounting high caliber weapons like an Anti-material rifle or a lucky shot with a Rocket launcher.

"Fair enough, so in your honest opinion, could we wage war with the NCR in our current state?"

"Depends sir,"

"Oh?" he was expecting a yes or no answer.

"Yes, if the objective is to simply bloody them so they'll be less inclined to attack for a time than the answer is yes we can."

Speirs simply gestured to go on.

"Our forces are more than adequate in terms of launching Blitzkrieg-styled assault. But, if the intent is to take over their territory, then no. We'd lose." Speirs couldn't help but contrast Jacob to other officers even if he wasn't one.

General Buzz Babcock would've have never said that they could lose, same could be said of General Chase. But Chase would've probably found an answer, it would have been bloody much like the Anchorage campaign, but he would achieve victory while Babcock would've thrown troops into the meatgrinder regardless.

Jacob drank more water before continuing, "With the exception of parts of the Mojave and the Islands The NCR encompasses entirety of the Southwest Commonwealth as well as portions of the Northwest, if rumors are true they've also staked a claim on Baja, Mexico. Since they've had a lot of time to rebuild they most likely have a large pool of manpower to draw upon. Not only that but they most likely have a strong industry to support their expansion, despite the poor showing they have in the Mojave."

He didn't need to say more, the NCR could most likely endure such losses and carry on. It was also very likely that the either the NCR or the Legion could drown them in bodies like the Soviet Union did to Nazi Germany.

Speirs was interrupted from his musings when Jacob spoke up.

"A confrontation between the Republic and the Legion at Hoover Dam will most likely happen soon, I give it a few more months, worst case weeks."

Jacob noted that the General was silent as if lost in a train of thought.

One of the only positives if there were any about the NCR-Legion War was that people were leaving, Legionaries and NCR soldiers were outright deserting some of them stumbled upon New Phoenix. The Legion's forced assimilation also forced survivors from smaller tribes in Arizona east, towards them.

Notable groups included the Ciphers, nomadic tribals who descended from pre-war scientists, they were led by one Isaac Gant, perhaps ironically he was defector from the Brotherhood of Steel and confirmed several facts from Maxson's report. The other tribe was known as the Twin mothers, a peaceful tribe that was attacked and scattered by Caesar's legion, the largest group that fled was led by a woman named Alaya, her husband Eldron died protecting them from the Legion.

The Senator and newly formed civilian council chose to give them shelter and they chose to stay. Some of the newcomers expressed interest in joining their military, more specifically the newly forming Defence force while a few wished to join the Army, others chose to put roots down and farm the land. Either way an influx of recruits ensured that they're numbers are slowly but surely growing. Added to those facts was that slaves were rising against the Legion in the east and NCR citizens were starting to chafe under the taxes and corruption of the NCR government, not to dissimilar to American citizens during the Resource Wars.

The situation was going to get much worse before it got better.

Of course that means being careful with the formation of their own government, Greenwood and the council are going to have to take measures to ensure that their own government doesn't fall to the same corruption issues.

Thankfully there were no corporations or Brahmin baron's to cause issues, for now.

"Your Orders?"

The actual question he was asking was _'Are we going to get involved?'_ Speirs could hear it in the tone of his voice

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way, I want full debriefing on your journey through the Mojave."

"Understood sir-" Speirs raises his hand in a halting gesture.

"Speak candidly captain, I have a feeling this is going to be a long story."

"Well… to begin with, we should get Benji in here. He and Leah were involved with other events that I had no part in."

Speirs walked up to the door and spoke to the guard outside.

"Corporal, get Sergeant Montgomery in here."

The soldier salutes and runs off in search.

"Now then, start from the beginning…"

* * *

 **So this the main style of the Chapters for most of the Mojave Arc is a recounting of events, with a conversation between Speirs and the MC's happening. So it's a foregone conclusion that they don't die in the Mojave Arc.**

 **Not sure if this fic will have the same serious overtone like Fallout 3 or 4 for example. But at the same time I'm not sure if it will have the same tone of say fallout 1 or 2. One of the main ideas I'm going with is rebuilding society to some degree as large swaths of territory are still well for a lack of a better term uncivilized.**

 **I kind of found it strange how the Commonwealth (Boston) didn't really show any signs of major rebuilding bar Diamond city and/or Good Neighbor maybe theres a legitimate reason for it I really don't know. I also found it strange that there was no signs of the NPC settlements making additional attempts at banding together unless if you (the sole survivor) did something about it.**

 **On a somewhat unrelated note, this setting/work may spin into crossover with another sc-fi but that would be in the very distant future (years down the line).**


End file.
